Uhhh Bootcamp? I mean, Yeahhhh Bootcamp!

I've always been curious about bootcamp. The thing is, all the bootcamps I know about are at crazy pre-work hours. Hours like 6:30am. 5:30am even! Who are those crazy people who choose to work out  (and wake up) at such ungodly hours? Ok, I know who they are. I have a few pre-work bootcamp friends, who have gotten totally fit doing it, and don't seem to mind waking up so early. I'm a girl who likes her sleep though, so I've never gotten into it.

The thing is, I'm not so good with the post-work workouts either. By the time I get home, I'm far too tired (lazy). I can rally for ballet most weeks, because I love me some ballet, but other than that, it's hard to get motivated. All I want to do is cook dinner and sit on the couch. Sometimes I even shower. I know; It's amazing the things I can get done between 7:30pm and bedtime (which, by the way, needs to be 11pm - no more staying up super late, Kim. You're too old for this.)!

Sarcasm aside, I need to infuse some working out into my life. And inspired by the fact that I can no longer button jeans that fit just fine pre-holidays, combined with the 93% off bootcamp Groupon deal, it looks like I am now a bootcamper. At least for the next two months.

Starting on Monday, January 14, I'll be going to "30-day Bootcamp" two days a week - it's on my way home from work, and it's in the evenings, and it's close to BART. No excuses, right? This, combined with Yoga on Tuesdays and Ballet on Wednesdays means I've got four days a week of exercise on the agenda. I need to buy resistance bands, and a jump rope, and one of those bags that holds a yoga mat and stuff. While I just might die, I also just might get into shape.

Do you bootcamp? Am I going to die? Are there things I should be tracking, for my own personal edification?

Starting Fresh, Mid-October

I haven't written in a while. And yesterday, when I went to Curves, I realized that I hadn't exercised in a while either. 11 days, to be exact. I had thought it was more like 5. How does that happen? How do 5 days turn into 11? How does blogging every day turn into "oh crap, it's been 8 days"? The apartment is mostly clean, work has been busy, I could make excuses all day. But the reality is that I just haven't been doing it. I've been taking a break. And I know, 8 days of no blogging isn't a huge disaster or anything. But 11 days with no exercise (not counting a hike we took while camping last week)? And no excuse other than "I just wanted to come home after work and veg out"? That's not good. Not good for my waistline, not good for my health...not good.

Last night, I joined the Biggest Loser competition at my local Curves. It begins on October 19th, and goes until the end of November. Every competitor has a sheet taped to the wall, and we are supposed to check off (or maybe the staff does it?) every time we come in to work out. I think we also check off when we work out on our own (taking a 30 minute walk, hiking, etc.) - at Curves, you're supposed to do 3x a week of Curves, and then 30 minutes of activity 2-3 times a week as well. We get weighed and measured at the beginning, and then at the end. To join cost $5, and the winners in each category (total pounds lost, inches lost, body fat % points lost) will split the pot at the end.

I joined because maybe (maybe maybe) if I am being held accountable in a public sort of way, I will actually come in on days when I feel like going home and sitting on the couch. Looking up at those check boxes, and seeing other people's boxes checked, will make me want to be able to check mine as well. I won't want to be the only person who looks like a slacker up on that wall! I hope.

Since I have officially signed up as a fully-paying member (instead of being on a cheapo discount "student" plan), I will also be starting to use the Curves Smart electronic monitoring type thingie that they have, where you plug your little card into the reader on each machine, and it tells you if you're working hard enough. I've never used it before, but from what I hear, you enter in your goals, and get measured and all that (just like when I first joined Curves), and then the machines track your progress. If you're not pushing hard enough, it lets you know. I like the idea of tracking my progress, and having a sort of personalized coach type of thing, even if it's just a machine.

So we'll see. Hopefully these things will motivate me to hit the gym after work as the days get shorter and it's darker and darker as I leave work. Because, oh man, when I leave work and it's cold and getting dark, all I want to do is go home, light some candles, and snuggle up on the couch. I do not, however, want to gain 10 pounds this holiday season.

Wish me luck!

Neighborhood Portrait #2

I like to give myself goals. I think that's pretty obvious, from this situation, but I like to feel a sense of purpose. So when it comes to exercise, I can't just "take a walk" or "go to the gym." This is why I love Curves - there are rules; there is a system. Your goal is to make it around the circuit twice (or three times on a really good day). Somehow that feels more concrete to me than "do the elliptical for 45 minutes." Call me crazy. Maybe my brain is just dysfunctional. That's just how I work. I like the systematic organization of it all.

Where was I? Oh yeah, goals. Purpose. Taking a walk. When I was unemployed, I tried to take walks as a way to get myself out of the house. Exercise AND not being inside on a beautiful spring afternoon? Score! However, I soon realized that without Purpose and Goals, laziness took over and I tell ya, I couldn't think of reasons not to take a walk fast enough. (that was an awkward sentence. Get over it.) Anyway, I like taking walks. A lot. But in order to take a walk alone, I need a reason. Like returning library books! It's walking, enjoying the nice weather, and BONUS: I get books! Everybody wins! Since I am working now, I can't do a midday library-bound stroll, but because it still says light out until around 8 or 9pm, I can go after work.

And a few days ago, that's just what I did. Naturally, I took pictures along the way...to keep myself company? To give myself even more purpose? So here are the pictures. A sequel to my first Neighborhood Portrait. Different part of the neighborhood. Heck, maybe it's a different neighborhood altogether. But I tend to classify anything within a 5-10 mile radius as "in my neighborhood," so whatever.

I am certainly making little to no sense at present, so just enjoy the pictures. Oh, and I'm tagging this with SuperFit because I did this instead of going to Curves one night last week. A 2.5 mile (round trip) walk = exercise! Totally!

Catching Up

All day, I've felt like I need to catch up. My time without Will is coming to an end (less than two weeks left! HOORAY!!! holycowican'tbelieveit'salmosthere), and suddenly I am realizing that there are things I need to do. Like, now.

I've been sort of busy lately, which is all well and good, but it's led me to feeling behind. I had a wonderful weekend at home with the family, which included helping a dear friend find her wedding dress (I maybe cried a little), seeing Julie & Julia (I want to cook all day every day), and attending a memorial ceremony for my grandma (click here for a beautiful recap from my mom). It was a restful and just all around nice weekend - I even got to nap in the sun by the pool. Heavenly.

Last week was filled with fun dinners with friends and a walk around my neighborhood. Looking back at the calendar, it wasn't actually all that jam-packed, yet somehow I still feel like it flew by in a flurry of business! I guess that's the way it goes sometimes.

Perhaps it is also just because it's Monday, and when Monday rolls around all I want to do is eat ice cream and curl up into a ball on the couch and nap and nap and nap and nap...and nap some more. I know I can't be the only one who feels this way. It takes me a great amount of will power to drag my butt to Curves on Monday nights, but I feel like if I can get myself there after work on a Monday, I can do just about anything! And my family's constant "wow, you look thin!" and "you look smaller!" comments this weekend were certainly a bit of motivation to keep it up...thanks, guys. Even if it wasn't true, it made me feel like my last few months of exercise have not been in vain! (Are they actually "in vain" though, because I am vain for wanting to work out to look better? Hmmm, I do love words) I'd also like to give a shout out to my Reebok Easy Tones and my Fit Flops, for helping to strengthen and tighten my legs! Seriously, after even a 2-mile walk, I can feel the burn.

Anyway, I feel like there is much to do, and I want to do it all, but also I want to sleep. So instead, I will make a list (with semi-deadlines, naturally), and then I will feel better about the things I need to get done!

This Week:

• Return library books
• Pick up dry cleaning
  
• Take books to Moe's for resale
• Pick up prescription from Walgreens
• Go to Curves 3 times minimum
• Wash guest sheets/towels from Kate's visit
• Pay bills (after 8/20 paycheck)
  
• Wash clothes. At least 3 loads. Maybe 4.
  

This Weekend:

• (hopefully) sort through the garage with my landlord and make room for Will's and my stuff...this is a whole situation, since the garage door is currently broken (not my fault), and the garage is filled with my landlord's stuff. Whee!
  
• Purchase many $4 Sterilite tubs from Target for aforementioned garage storage project
  
• A's Game for April's birthday
• Farmer's Market (I hope!)
  
• Geocaching with Becca, Josh and Keira
• Brunch with Twitter-blog-friend/SF Newcomer Shelley - I hope!
  
• Measure Will's desk (in the storage unit) to see if it will fit in the apartment
  

Next Week:

• Pack up some stuff for storage
• Whatever I didn't get done over the weekend

Next Weekend:

• Go to Washington to visit Will's family
• Come home with Will! Yay!

I feel better having written it down in a list. Somewhere in there, I'd like to bake some muffins or something, and I'd like to squeeze in a pedicure at some point, but we'll have to see how productive I actually am...

Getting Fit: The Challenge

I am participating in The Challenge, from These Little Moments. While it is technically a weight loss challenge, it's really more a staying-motivated challenge. By reporting progress for whatever your goals are (whether your goal is to lose 5 pounds or just work out regularly), it keeps you motivated. Or it keeps me motivated, anyway. Here's my first update:

I have met my workout goal (3-5 times a week) for the last week, so yay! I have been trying to eat healthier (basically less cookies and ice cream) as well. I went to a little intro-to-Pilates-using-a-fit-ball class over the weekend, and even though it was a sampler class and we didn't do full reps, I was sore for two days after! Core strengthening! I learned some new exercises for core strengthening and lower ab work...and remembered some that I had somehow blocked from memory after taking weekly pilates classes a year ago ;-)

No pounds or inches lost that I know of, but I don't get weighed and measured at Curves until the end of the month. I'll have a full update on that when this little month of fitness ends.

I have renewed motivation though, since I just saw some pictures from Will's backpacking trip - he's only halfway done and he's lost a good 10-15 pounds! It's so much easier for guys, isn't it? Ok, so maybe it's the hiking 15 miles a day and carrying 40 pounds on his back... Anyway, so far, I'm feeling good about my progress, and I am psyched to keep going!

Chunky Apple Cinnamon Muffins!

I just made the Hungry Girl Chunky Apple Cinnamon Muffins (here, towards the bottom of the page). Mmmmm.

Like the blueberry muffins, they came out a little more moist in the middle than I would have liked - almost underdone. I was scared to over-bake them though, and the toothpick I inserted into the middle came out clean! So I don't know, maybe next time I'll just bake them a bit longer. Maybe I'll stick these guys back in the oven for a bit?

The recipe says it makes four, but I easily made six. Kinda like how with the blueberry muffins, the recipe said it made six, but it really could have made 8-12. Does the Hungry Girl have gigantic muffin tins or something? Note: I did not peel my apple before chopping it, and I just chopped 1 whole apple instead of measuring out 1 cup of apple. More apple = good! Peel = good!

Anyway, these babies are much better for you than the apple-cinnamon-type muffins you find at Starbucks or Coffee Bean or whatever. And they are pretty darn tasty too!

what the muffin looks like after a bit has been taken out of it.

In other news, I skipped the gym today because I thought I had a job interview this morning - it was postponed, but my gym mojo was gone at that point. Sigh...once I tell my brain I'm not going to do something, it is hard to change my mind! Luckily, it works the other way too. If I make my mind up to do something, I do it! And thus we have Chunky Apple Cinnamon muffins.

In case you're interested, this morning I had a part-egg-beater, part-egg scramble with spinach, leftover salmon with lemon and dill, sweet white onion, and cream cheese. It. Was. Delish.

Happy Wednesday!

Blueberry Muffins

For my birthday, my mom got me the Hungry Girl '200 Under 200' cookbook (200 recipes under 200 calories). There are a lot of recipes that look really yummy, although many recipes involve some not-so-basic (for me, anyway) ingredients. I think it will just take a little bit of rethinking my 'basic kitchen staples', and I did a bit of shopping for things like Light Vanilla Soymilk and Sugar Free Pancake Syrup. If you're not sure about the recipes, or don't want to buy the book, sign up for the newsletter - she sends out recipes (some from the book) and tips about once a week. Like I said, a lot of her recipes look great, and I'll try to document and post whenever I try new ones!

Today, I made the Big Fat Blueberry Muffins.

The ingredients, all lined up like ducks in a row (not really). Please note that I am not advertising for any of these companies; this is just what I bought and used. The brown sugar (in the plastic canister) is from Trader Joe's, in case you're looking to brand-copy. The Lucerne carton (back right) contains egg-substitute (a la Egg Beaters). Who knew...the Safeway brand contained less salt (and was cheaper) than the Egg Beaters brand! And yes, the Smuckers brand of syrup was the healthiest option and had less fake-sounding ingredients than the other 4 sugar-free syrups at the store. The email/web-version of the recipe suggests freezing the blueberries so that they don't sink to the bottom of the muffins while baking. I popped my berries in the freezer when I started and pulled them out when it was time to add them, and that seemed to work fine (though they really weren't frozen at all).

The dry ingredients, just because they looked pretty...

Muffins, pre-oven. The recipe makes 6 large muffins, but I think next time I will make 8-12 smaller ones...

Muffins, post-baking! They puffed up a LOT. These things are huge!

Close-up of pretty muffins. I like how the blueberries kind of exploded a little in places, and how the "crust" on top is all crackly.

Artistic Muffin. Actually, this is just what happened when I used my flash, and I thought it looked cool. Also, it shows the semi-mushy inside, which I think is more a by-product of my trying to eat it when it was still steaming hot than of the muffins *actually* being mushy. They're really not mushy at all. Toothpick came out clean and everything.

Like I said, next time I may make smaller muffins, but just one these jumbo muffins could be breakfast. Next up...Chunky Apple-Cinnamon Muffins.

Ramble Ramble

I have been a little bit MIA lately, mostly because, well, I don't know. I've been working out at Curves 5 days a week (6 last week, because they had Mother's Day Mimosas on my birthday), and trying not to spend too much time sitting on my butt with the TV/computer. I've been eating well, but not amazingly well (because of birthday dinners galore last week), but I'm ok with that. Getting up in the mornings and working out has me feeling better - there's something to be said for getting up and out of the house at least once a day :-) Granted, there are days like today, when I was home by 10am and proceeded to watch TV and job-hunt online until 4pm. I snacked (on healthy snacks) but never ate a real meal, and now, at 5:45pm, I find my stomach growling for dinner. Salmon from the farmer's market tonight. I think it's a garlic, lemon and dill kind of night. Mmmm.

Anyway, it's been a lovely last few days. My birthday, as I mentioned, was on Mother's Day, and I had a lovely dinner at Jupiter with friends on Saturday night. The Boy surprised me with a giant cake (chocolate with raspberry in between the layers, my favorite), and when the 12 or so of us had our fill, I started passing it out to random people at the restaurant. It was way more fun than I thought it would be - people really appreciated the free cake, and it was fun to suddenly connect with a bunch of strangers (the free drink from one table and all the happy birthday wishes didn't hurt)! I highly recommend bringing a cake to your next bar/restaurant party experience and passing out slices to anyone who wants some. Fun!

On my actual birthday, I went to Curves for a mimosa and a workout, and came home to crash on the couch for a bit. The Boy and I had a lovely little picnic lunch on his balcony until it got too cold, when we walked back to my place to read on the couch for a few hours. (I just finished Nefertiti, which was excellent) We went to his hockey game later that evening, where he scored a birthday goal for me (and his team won!), and came home for some cake. It was quite relaxing, and really a nice birthday.

This post has been rambling on a bit, so I'm going to go take my laundry out of the dryer and marinate my salmon. Have a good night!

Cake! Birthday! Fun!

Curves Meal Plan, Day 1

Today was the first day of my new eating plan, so for the sake of documentation, I thought I would provide a little food diary of sorts.

Breakfast: 1/2 cup egg substitute (Safeway brand eggbeaters), 2 veggie sausages (Morningstar farms brand), 1 slice whole wheat bread (homemade). I added 1/2 a roma tomato and 1/4 an orange bell pepper to my eggs, in addition to a little salt-free multi-spice mix from Trader Joe's. The things I added were on the "free things" list (veggies and spices that you can eat in whatever quantities you want, though I assume you can't go too crazy). All in all, it was pretty good. The sausage tastes good, but the texture is (as Dana confirmed, upon my telling her about it) not unlike that of a dry sponge. I learned quickly that it was pretty good if you cut it up and ate it with the eggs though, so I think next time I'll just crumble it in as part of the scramble. All in all, a tasty and filling breakfast. I didn't even eat the whole piece of bread, I was so full!

On to lunch (I skipped a morning snack): I followed the recipe in the Curves book for tuna salad, 3 oz. of tuna (in water) with 2 tbs of light mayo. I added 1/2 a tomato and some celery, dill, pepper, lemon juice and red onion (all "free" items), and decided that 2 tbs of mayo was way too much. Next time, less mayo! I ate it with 6 baby carrots and a string cheese (and the other half of my bread from breakfast, and was quite full for a few hours.

Afternoon snack: 1 rice cake with 2 tbs peanut butter. I didn't quite use 2 tbs. It was good, and was a great little snack to tide me over between lunch and dinner.

Dinner: I took Dana out to dinner for her birthday, and we had some very delicious Chicken Tikka Masala and Sag Paneer, with Garlic Naan and rice. I didn't eat too much rice, and I only had 1.5 of the 4 slices of Naan, and while this was definitely not on my meal plan, it was delicious and worth the splurge for a good friend's birthday. Let's just ignore the fact that my birthday is on Sunday, and I'm going out for pizza/drinks on Saturday night. Shhh.

Dessert: 1 dark chocolate covered frozen banana (Trader Joe's). Delicious, and not too bad for you. According to the ladies at Curves (and common sense), you can trade one snack for one dessert, as long as it's not overboard. :-)

This is the rose I got at Curves this morning. They were having a little baby shower for one of the staff members, complete with games and mimosas (skipped the mimosa, myself, trying to be good in anticipation of my splurgey dinner). I guessed the closest to her pregnancy weight, so I got a little goodie bag with a Curves towel, and every person who came to work out today got a pink long-stemmed rose. Lovely!

Happy Birthday to Dana, and Happy 1st Day of pseudo-diet to me!

Curves

About two years ago, I joined Curves. It was around the corner (literally, a 3-minute walk) from my house, and I got a few of my fellow Berkeley Rep interns to join with me. My roommate Kristen and I would go, generally three times a week, and I felt good. Granted, I was walking ~4 miles a day, almost every day (to and from work), but I liked the vibe at Curves. It's a friendly place, and very different atmosphere from a normal gym. Sure, the general age of the clientele is approximately twice that of my own, but I like it. The music is fun, the machines are easy to use, and the staff (and other members!) make me want to push myself. Overall, it's a very supportive environment, and I really like that.

Yes, I know that there has been some controversy surrounding Curves because of the owner's pro-life beliefs. Reportedly, he has donated a ton of money to anti-abortion agencies, and people are upset that the money he makes from his pro-woman Curves franchises supports something that by many is considered to be very anti-woman. This makes people upset. I'll admit that this makes me upset. However, it is his right to use his money how he chooses. The women who own these franchises (and many, if not all - I can't find the data - of the franchise-owners are women) have a right to support organizations that are pro-choice, pro-life, or not to support any organizations at all. So do the members. Yes, I feel conflicted at times, knowing that a small percentage of my membership fees are going towards pro-life groups. But then again, I can always counter that with a donation or volunteer work. I can continue to support pro-choice organizations on my own. Check out this website for more information about this whole thing.

Wow. That was a lot more Curves-Controversy talk than I was planning on writing. The whole point of this post was supposed to be telling you all how excited I am about my new Fitness & Weight Management Plan! I recently joined Curves in Rockridge through their $30 for 30 Days Trial Plan. It includes 3 days a week with a trainer (though you can go as many days a week as you want), and evaluations, and a 30 day free trial with Curves Complete. Today, I picked up the Curves Fitness & Weight Management Plan book, which comes with a ton of recipes for use with the Plan. I plan on starting the plan (ha. ha. ha.) next week. Basically, it works in 3 phases, with different caloric intakes for each phase, to train your body and trick it into thinking you're not dieting. Phase 1 is 7 days, Phase 2 is 23 days, and Phase 3 is 2-4 weeks. You do the 30 day cycle (Phases 1-2), and then (in theory) you stick to Phase 3 for the rest of your life, until you gain 3+ pounds, and then you go back to Phase 1 for 2-3 days.

Sounds more complicated than it is. For more information, click here. They provide a lot of food options; it's really a wide-ranging menu. The meals look good. It looks pretty easy. I mean, I will have to commit to it, and it won't be easy to resist my standard treats, but if I just follow the recipes (and figure out their substitution tables for when I want to eat something that's not on the list), I should be ok. My goal weight (that I pulled out of nowhere) is 130 lbs. I currently weigh 154 lbs. My trainer says she can help me drop 20 lbs in 3 months pretty easily if I follow the diet and come in 3 times a week (and Curves recommends walking 30 min a day most days as well). My BMI (ratio of muscle to fat) is a little higher than it should be, but that should come down too. My plan is to come in 5-6 times a week, so that plus my occasional hikes/walks and walks to the grocery store, in addition to the "diet," should put me in a pretty good position.

I have never actively tried to lose weight before, so this should be interesting. I've started a new label called SuperFit to keep track of my blog posts on the subject, and yes, I plan to blog this whole experience. I'll take pictures of food sometimes, and report what's going on with my weight loss and such.

I'm sure it won't be SuperEasy, but I like the support system that Curves provides. The trainers who work there take an active interest in your life, and many have gone through the diet and exercise programs as well, and can offer tips and personal stories about how they lost weight. They motivate you and cheer you on while you work out, and they push you to work harder.

So, I have high hopes. Now is the time to start something like this - while I have a lot of time on my hands, and the desire to stop spending my days eating and watching TV (two months was enough!). This weekend, I am going to go through the Phase 1 recipes and menus, make a shopping list (cottage cheese! vegetables! egg substitute!), and get psyched up. Most of the things on the menu are things I already eat...I have a feeling my portions are just going to get smaller. Oh, portion control... :-)

Wish me luck, and feel free to share any diet/exercise tips you have!